


Never Going Home

by torigates



Category: Primeval
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-04
Updated: 2013-11-04
Packaged: 2017-12-31 12:16:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1031620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torigates/pseuds/torigates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was only temporary—it had to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Going Home

  
When the anomaly first closed, trapping them in the Cretaceous, Abby didn’t allow herself to be worried. It was only temporary—it had to be. Someone would be along to rescue them before long, and they would be back home, and everything would be fine.

Except it wasn’t.

Connor was hurt and they were trapped in a time where they were the lowest rung on the food chain with no hope of being rescued and no way for anyone to find them, or even to know where they were if they did.

At first it was easy for Abby to ignore all that. They needed to find food, water, and shelter. They needed to focus on just surviving.

It was hard.

Abby could tell Connor wanted to help, wanted to protect her. The idea was laughable enough under normal circumstances. There wasn’t much anyone could do face to face with a dinosaur, but add a sprained ankle and concussion into the mix, it was more than Abby could deal with.

She knew she was being hard on him. Ignoring him, or snapping at him when they did talk, but she was just so scared, and so focused on getting through one moment to the next, there wasn’t any time to be friendly. There wasn’t any time to do anything except focus on how they were going to make it to the next minute, hour, day.

By the time Connor was well enough to move around fast enough to decrease the chances he’d become somebody’s breakfast, Abby was beyond exhausted. Connor had left her alone not too long ago, claiming he was going to get some more wood, but Abby knew he was actually checking on the anomaly ‘detector’ that he had set up. Abby didn’t know why he bothered; the chances of it opening up again were ridiculously small. In his absence, she was able to stop and rest and breathe for a moment, and the reality of their situation began to sink in.

They were trapped.

No one knew where they were.

There was no way to find them. No way to get home.

Despite her best efforts, Abby could feel that panic begin to take over.

Connor sauntered in to the cave they’d started calling ‘home.’ Or Connor was calling it home, at least. Abby couldn’t bring herself to think of it as anything more than their personal hell. Or prison, if she was feeling particularly charitable that day. The Cretaceous wasn’t their home, and never would be. They weren’t supposed to be there, but they were. They were trapped and never leaving.

“I checked the anomaly spot,” Connor said. He walked in with a smile on his face, and sat down on the ground next to Abby. She was lying on her stomach, the cold, hard ground bringing no relief from her weariness. There was a small rock poking into her stomach, but she couldn’t bring herself to roll over and move it. It felt like forever since she had been in a proper bed. She wished she had taken the opportunity to appreciate her bed while she had the chance, and now she never would be again.

Connor, unaware of Abby’s inner turmoil pushed her feet out of the way to make some room for himself. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him resting his head against the cool stone wall of the cave.

“Let me guess,” Abby said, without looking up. “There was no change.”

Connor had moved her legs onto his lap, and he was drawing soft circles on the backs of her calves. It tickled, and she shivered.

“There was no change,” Connor confirmed. His hands became firmer on her legs; his fingers circled her ankle and held on. She twisted her hips so she could have a better look at his face. He didn’t seem particularly bothered by the news that they were trapped in the Cretaceous for another day at the very least. Probably forever at the rate they were going.

“How does it not bother you?” Abby asked, finally sitting all the way up. She crossed her legs underneath her, pulling them free from Connor’s grip.

“What?” he asked, cocking his head and looking at her in that clueless way of his.

Suddenly, Abby felt all her pent up emotions rise to the surface. All the fear, anger, frustration, and adrenaline she had been running on, and keeping in bubbled to the surface, and she just couldn’t take it anymore.

“We’re trapped!” she shouted at him. She got to her feet, and stared down at him. Connor looked a bit frightened by her outburst, but that only spurred her on. “We’re trapped, and we’re never leaving here, and we’re going to die, and it doesn’t even seem to bother you! How can you stand it?” she screamed.

Connor got slowly to his feet. “Abby,” he said, reaching out for her. She turned away, brushing a few tears out of her eyes. He put his hand on her shoulder, but she ignored him.

“Of course I’m scared,” he said. “I’m bloody terrified.” She could hear a small, nervous chuckle in his voice, that didn’t quite make it to the surface. “I didn’t want you to know,” he continued. “Because I didn’t want you to think bad of me.”

Abby finally turned around at that. In Connor’s eyes, she could see so much of her own fears and hopes and emotions. All this time Abby had been feeling so alone, like it was up to her, and only her to carry the burden of everything she was feeling. But it wasn’t hers alone. It was theirs, and they were in this together, and even if it meant that they were in this for the rest of their lives, for the first time Abby thought that might not be so terrible.

Abby took a step forward, and put her hand on Connor’s chest. She was close enough that she could see him inhale sharply, and she felt his chest rise and fall beneath her palm. She wrapped her other arm around his waist pulling him close, and she could see confusion, fear, hope flicker across his eyes. She rose up on her toes, and brushed her lips across his in a brief kiss.

Connor stared down at her, his eyes searching her face. Abby managed a faint smile, and Connor cupped her cheeks in his hands, and kissed her. For one brief moment, Abby felt like maybe everything would be okay. Maybe it would be alright that they were trapped in the Cretaceous. Maybe it would only be temporary. Maybe they would get home again and everything would be okay. Connor’s mouth was warm and wet against her own, and in that moment Abby could forget.

Somewhere, in the jungle a creature screamed, startling the two of them. They broke apart, and they both stepped unconsciously further into the cave. The moment was gone and she moved further away from Connor. They were still standing in a cool, dark cave in the middle of the jungle, waiting to be eaten by a million different types of carnivores, or catch a prehistoric virus, or god knows what else. Then they stepped back and all those facts were still true, and Abby knew they were never going home again.

Not ever. 


End file.
